Price cuts...which cpu 2.4b or 2.53?? also, mobo???

[shredman]

Hello everyone,

I'm just about to upgrade my computer and was planning on buying a 1.8a and overclocking, however with the recent news of price cuts on 25 Aug, I can now afford a 2.4b or 2.53. Which one is the best overclocker? I'll probably run it at stock for a few weeks and then try to overclock it.

As far as motherboards, I'm hoping the Asus P4S8X is available by next week, if not, I think I will go for an Epox 4G4A+ (got great reviews) and corsair xms 3200 ram.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[brunswickite]

i am building hte exaxt same system, gonna orer next week
prolly a 2.53 and corsair xms 2700

on an Epox 4g4a+

hte P4S8X is no were to be found, unfortunatly

 

[SupermanCK]

i would think the 2.53 since they are going ot be the same price? if not...go with the cheaper one...
also 2.53 you have a tad bit higher multiplier to play with...
mobo you can get the asus p4b533...

 

[jaybee]

2.4b and XMS3200. Shoot for 165fsb, at 4:5 that'll give you close to 3GHz and 413MHz.

jaybee

 

[SupermanCK]

2.53 and xms3200 c2 and shoot for 160MHz would make you 3.0GHz+ and 3:4 = 427ddr
hee hee...good luck

 

[BuddyAtBzboyz]

Personally I would go with the 2.26 because of its lowere multiplyer to reach the higher fsb.

 

[Dug]

Personally I would go with the 2.26 because of its lowere multiplyer to reach the higher fsb.

But with the 19x multiplier it will be easier to hit 3G. Plus you'll be able to hit higher memory scores because of the lower fsb, by using 4:5 or 3:4.

160/4*5*2= 400 for memory. 19x160= 3040Mhz. This should be easily attainable.

Or if you have an E board and really good memory you can do 160/3*4*2= 426.

A 2.26 chip would need to run at 180fsb to achieve 3G's. It has been done but not as likely as the 2.53 chip.
Your memory scores will be much lower too. The best you will get is 360. There is a slight chance that you could hit 450 memory using 4:5 divider but it is highly unlikely.

So for $30 more for the 2.53 you can have a better, faster, more stable system.

 

[shredman]

Great Comments. I think the 2.53 fits the bill. Any comments as to which motherboard? For memory, I'm thinking of Corsair XMS 3200 cas2.0 (www.googlegear.com).

Thanks for all the great input so far!

 

[lookin4dlz]

Just a couple of more days for the price drop and another chip upgrade - can't wait

 

[Dug]

Just a couple of more days for the price drop and another chip upgrade - can't wait

I hope your right. I just sold my 1.6. So I'm dead in the water with a new 4g4a+ motherboard just sitting here waiting to be used.
I hope the price cuts don't take a couple of weeks to filter through.
Although I've been thinking that those 2.53 cpu's have probably been sitting there for quite some time now, and we won't be able to get new batches any time soon.

shredman- I don't think you'll see the p4s8x real soon. It looks like a good board, but the verdicts out on how well it will overclock. I don't think you can go wrong with a 4g4a and corsair 3200 ram.

 

[brunswickite]

is htere reason to buy corsiar pc3200, isnt it the same as pc2700, just with a higher price?

 

[SupermanCK]

well...corsair's pc3200 are tested different than the pc2700...but they do have the same winbond chip under the heatspreader...6n i believe...if you want you can go over to corsair forum and check it out...but i have been hearing TONZ of good things about pc3200 c2 XMS

 

[Duvie]

Personally I would go with the 2.26 because of its lowere multiplyer to reach the higher fsb.

I disagree...I have the lowest northwood multiplier of 16 and 171fsb and 3:4 ratio keeps me from obtaining 400mhz ddr unless I sacrifice cpu speed...

I think both the 2.4b or the 2.53b would be better choice to keep the fsb reasonable to still use 400mhz ddr...The 2.26ghz likely may oc better then a 3:4 ratio could work with, and you would be in the same boat as me wondering which would give you better performance.

Also decide on what board...A 4:5 ratio may help you extend the fsb out...

I would love to have the 4:5 ratio with my board as at 171fsb I could be running 428mhz ddr which this system did fine at 160fsb...Unfortunately either voltage or picky mobo gives me problems ni\iot much past that level.

 

[Dug]

but i have been hearing TONZ of good things about pc3200 c2 XMS

How high is this stuff getting? 450 would be nice. Then you could get the 2.26 and run it at 180fsb with a 4:5 divider, or 170 with 3:4

 

[MinhChon]

Originally posted by: shredman
Great Comments. I think the 2.53 fits the bill. Any comments as to which motherboard? For memory, I'm thinking of Corsair XMS 3200 cas2.0 (www.googlegear.com).

Thanks for all the great input so far!

I'm also building a new system, and already bought the Epox 464a+, but won't have enough money to dish out for the Corsair XMS C2 RAM. Anyone recommend good, overclockable, decent-priced RAM? Thanks!

 

[BuddyAtBzboyz]

You're both right I keep forgetting about those ratios on the p4 motherboards. I'm used to athlons and cheap motherboards with a 1:1 ratio

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Dug

Personally I would go with the 2.26 because of its lowere multiplyer to reach the higher fsb.

But with the 19x multiplier it will be easier to hit 3G. Plus you'll be able to hit higher memory scores because of the lower fsb, by using 4:5 or 3:4.

I don't think the 19X multiplier makes it easier to reach 3.0 Ghz+, I think the fact that it's only a 500 MHz overclock, vs a 700+ MHz overclock (much more of an o/c for a 1.8A or 1.6A going to 3.0 GHz still)...

As for the low fsb/high multiplier; it's better to have a high FSB and high memory frequency then a low FSB and high memory.

 

[BuddyAtBzboyz]

I also thought that running the cpu and the memory at the same frequency was benefitial, so I was very confused the first time I heard about these ratio boards. So anyone care to fill me in?

 

[Mikki]

Originally posted by: Dug

but i have been hearing TONZ of good things about pc3200 c2 XMS

How high is this stuff getting? 450 would be nice. Then you could get the 2.26 and run it at 180fsb with a 4:5 divider, or 170 with 3:4

I've seen XMS3000 as high as 442-444, and since XMS3200 is basically the same stuff, that's probably about the limit.

 

[jaybee]

Originally posted by: BuddyAtBzboyz
I also thought that running the cpu and the memory at the same frequency was benefitial, so I was very confused the first time I heard about these ratio boards. So anyone care to fill me in?

Yup, if the fsb & memory are synchronous you save a few cycles. However, I think a chipset is either synchronous or asynchronous, so even if you set the ratio to 1:1 you are not getting the efficiencies of a synchronous bus. </my basic understanding>

jaybee

 

[Dug]

As for the low fsb/high multiplier; it's better to have a high FSB and high memory frequency then a low FSB and high memory.

The fsb shouldn't make any difference at all. The memory is what makes the difference with P4's.
3ghz is 3ghz no matter how you get there. If you could benchmark a system with a 30x multiplier and 100fsb it would be about the same as a 15x multiplier and 200fsb. As long as the MEMORY is running the same.
The problem with high fsb's now is that you can't push the limits of the memory with the available dividers. Look at Duvie's example. Either a high CPU frequency with lower memeory scores or lower cpu frequency with higher memory scores. With 19x multiplier you can have the best of both worlds.

I also thought that running the cpu and the memory at the same frequency was benefitial, so I was very confused the first time I heard about these ratio boards. So anyone care to fill me in?

The memory dividers allow you to run your memory asyncronously to the fsb. For example if you are running at 150fsb then your memory would be at 300 if it was syncronous. (150*2 for ddr) If you are running at 150fsb and use the 3:4 divider then your memory is running at 400. (150/3*4*2=400) The jump from 300 to 400 in memory is more noticable in performance than a 200Mhz overclock.